1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the field of board games generally, and more particularly pertains to a board game apparatus for making player's aware of the criminal consequences of engaging in the use and trafficking of crack cocaine.
2. Description of the Background Art
In society, today, drug use persists and remains as a blight on society which contributes to an increased crime rate and ruined lives. A particularly persistent drug known for its uncanny addictiveness is crack cocaine, which has become the focus of law enforcement, in many locations. The sale and trafficking of crack cocaine has resulted in a substantial underground economy wherein heavy-handed criminals can gain substantial financial success and status. The promise of easily gotten financial wealth and status has lured a flood of individuals, many of them young children, into the illegal drug trade. As a result of the multitudes who have turned to using or selling crack cocaine, the criminal justice system has become overburdened with drug-related cases.
To aid the criminal justice system in the war on crack cocaine and other drugs, many individuals, have shouldered the task of educating and deterring people away from drug-related lifestyles. A plurality of education tools have been devised to fight the war against drugs, some of which have taken the form of board games designed to educate people about the detrimental consequences of leading a drug related lifestyle.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,268 issued to Garnett on Aug. 18, 1992, describes a board game for educating children about the consequences of drug use, comprised of a board having two concentric paths, an outer, longer path and an inner, shorter path. Players who choose the shorter path face pitfalls which can slow their progress, while players who choose the longer path are assisted in their travels when landing on "say no and go" spaces. In the center of the board is a drug free zone and the object of the game is for a player to get all of his tokens into the drug free zone.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,134 issued to Burroughs, Jr., on Dec. 10, 1991, describes a substance abuse board game apparatus and a method for playing the same. The board is comprised of a spiral pathway, having four concentric levels wherein a player at the first level is a phase-one substance abuser and the goal is to rise to the fourth level to become a substance abuse counselor. Various spaces upon the board represent penalty spaces and require the drawing of penalty cards. Additionally, various other spaces disposed upon the pathway require the drawing of question cards. The penalty cards and question cards are identified by a plurality of colors, wherein spaces having corresponding colors require the drawing of either a question card or a penalty card.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,966 issued to MacRae on Aug. 12, 1980, describes a board game for simulating drunken driving wherein a player can become more intoxicated as the game proceeds over a period of time. Three of cards indicate consequences to a player for landing on a road hazard playing location, while in a drunken state. Additionally a police car is provided as a means of eliminating a drunken player from the game.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,934 issued to Taylor on Oct. 16, 1990, describes a board game relating to college experiences and representing the effects which drinking may have on success in college life and graduation therefrom. The playing board has a main path including successive playing positions further provided with a short-cut path from one side of the main path to the other, and a return path from the short-cut to a position on the main path intermediate the entrance and exit of the short-cut path. A plurality of cards corresponding with indicia upon the playing spaces on each path decide the fate of each player.
Additionally, a plurality of board games related to the criminal justice system and/or moral values exist. These games include U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,154, Niemann; 4,012,045, Vail; 3,977,680, Lavin; and 4,201,388, Cantelon.
While the previous board games have focused upon drug or alcohol abuse from the standpoint of the player assuming the role of the addict, none of the previous games have focused upon fighting drugs from the perspective of law enforcement. By allowing players to assume the role of a police officer, players would be introduced to the plight of the police fighting the drug war, thus allowing players to acknowledge the police as heroes and role models.
This aspect of recognizing the police as role models is especially important to children who are attracted to the drug trade and, who may already look upon drug dealers as positive role models. Therefore a need still exists for a drug awareness game which dismantles the myth of drug dealers as positive role models and which simultaneously supports the police as role models to be emulated.
The foregoing patents reflect the state of the art of which the applicant is aware and are tendered with the view toward discharging applicant's acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information which mat be pertinent in the examination of this application. It is respectfully stipulated, however, that none of these patents teach or render obvious, singly or when considered in combination, applicant's claimed invention.